Fans throughout the country have rallied around Bradley Wiggins to support him after journalist Piers Morgan criticised the cyclist for apparently not singing the national anthem when he won gold.

Social networks were buzzing on Thursday morning with talk of a row between the two.

Wiggins took gold in the time trial last week, but that was not enough to keep Morgan happy: he supposedly tweeted the cycling hero with the following message: “I was very disappointed @bradwiggins didn’t sing the anthem either. Show some respect to our Monarch please!”

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The 'fake' Twitter exchange

A tweet from a fan (@mrcolmquinn) responding in defence of Wiggins’ (and initially mistaken as a response from the Tour de France winner), was retweeted profusely, retorting: “@piersmorgan I was disappointed when you didn’t go to jail for insider trading or phone hacking, but you know, each to his own."

The jpeg of the exchange has caused a stir, prompting debate about how important it is for winning athletes to sing the national anthem and highlighting how strongly people feel about patriotism and national success at the Olympics.

Morgan has been campaigning for athletes to proudly sing their anthems, whichever nation they represent, and is donating money to charity when gold medal winners impress him with their singing.